Generating electricity without the use of fossil fuels is not just an engineering and industrial challenge, it is also a huge mathematical challenge.

Producing electricity securely, safely, reliably and cheaply, has many challenges. Chris Budd explains that the answer to many of these issues is maths.

Producing electricity securely, safely, reliably and cheaply, has many challenges. Chris Budd explains that the answer to many of these issues is maths.

Producing electricity securely, safely, reliably and cheaply has many challenges. Chris Budd explains that the answer to many of these issues is maths.

When the mathematician AK Erlang first used probability theory to model telephone networks in the early twentieth century he could hardly have imagined that the science he founded would one day help solve a most pressing global
problem: how to wean ourselves off fossil fuels and switch to renewable energy sources.

Have you ever noticed what happens when you spin a coin on a table? As the coin starts to fall over and roll on its edge, its spin gets faster and faster until it suddenly stops altogether.